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The Stardust spacecraft released its sample return capsule as it approached Earth in January 2006. The capsule plunged into Earth's atmosphere, was lowered to the ground by its parachutes, and was recovered from its landing site in Utah by a crew in a helicopter.
Click on image for full size Images courtesy NASA/JPL-Caltech; animation created by Windows to the Universe staff (Randy Russell).

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Stardust returns - with comet dust!News story originally written on January 11, 2006

The Stardust spacecraft will
complete its comet sampling mission when it lands in the wee hours of the morning
on January 15, 2006.
A 100 pound (45 kg) sample return capsule carrying the mission's precious
cargo of dust particles from Comet Wild
2 will land in the desert in Utah.

Stardust, which was launched in February 1999, has traveled 4.63 billion
kilometers (2.88 billion miles) while looping around the Sun three
times during its 7-year long mission. Along
the way it captured interstellar dust
grains that hurtle through our Solar
System. In January 2004 it made its closest approach to Comet Wild 2 and
snapped the best photos to
date of a comet's nucleus. During
that high-speed flyby it also accomplished the mission's main objective of
capturing particles emitted
by
the comet. The spacecraft used an amazing, high-tech material called aerogel to
snag dust particles from the comet.

As the spacecraft approaches Earth, it will
release a sample return capsule containing the comet dust. The capsule will
enter Earth's atmosphere at a speed
of more than 23 thousand km/hour (14 thousand miles/hour), making it one of
the highest speed atmospheric entries ever. A heat shield will protect the
capsule as it hurtles through the atmosphere,
then parachutes will open to lower the capsule to the ground. The capsule will
be visible from northern
Nevada (and possibly northern California and northwestern Utah) as it burns
its way through the atmosphere; it will look like an exceptionally bright meteor.
Check this
NASA web site for details about viewing the capsule's entry, which
will occur around 3 AM Mountain Time on January 15th.

If all goes well, the capsule will land gently in the Great Salt Lake Desert
in Utah around 3:15 AM. Radio beacons on the capsule will guide recovery teams,
in helicopters, to the landing site. The capsule will be transferred to a clean
room where it will be opened. Scientists will then begin to study the first
samples of a comet ever returned to Earth, in hopes of unlocking some of the
secrets of the history of our Solar
System that they suspect cometary particles
might reveal.

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